Maynard Ferguson returns to Wallace Hall

Thursday

Jan 13, 2005 at 12:01 AM

Swing high! Swing low! The dazzling Big Band of Maynard Ferguson performs in concert at 1 p.m. Feb. 1 at Wallace Hall on the Gadsden State Community College campus. This annual event for GSCC band students is thanks to the school's band director, the legendary Rip Reagan.

No reservations. Seating is first come, first served. Doors open at noon. General admission is $10. Make checks payable to GSCC Band Boosters. For more information, call Ginger Weeks-Deru, 256-549-8325 or 549-8323. The e-mail address is gderu@gadsdenstate.edu

The week starts with a special stage program at Convention Hall at 6 p.m. Monday sponsored by Floyd Donald of WMGJ.

Starring will be West African students from the Alabama Language Institute. Free. The event is to promote the rest of the MLK week schedule, which takes place at the Hardin Center.

Information about all the MLK week programs and classes is contained in a brochure available at Cultural Arts, or call the center's information desk, 543-2787.

Seasons of Love III, a fund-raiser for Chris Kids, a program for abused children, takes its third annual bow Feb. 4-5 at the Woodruff Arts Center's 14th Street Playhouse.

Former Gadsden showfolks, now prominent in Atlanta theater circles, work on this musical production. Mike Beecham directs, Anne Sharpe again serves as his assistant and stage manager, Bruce Stephens is music director, Jeanne Arnold Allen and Shea Pruitt Johnson are featured performers, and Gadsden gal Casey Browning would have appeared again this year, but she has recently moved to Dothan for a job as a TV news reporter. Choreographer is Shari Gee. Jeff Herndon conducts the orchestra. Lighting designer Warren Flynn returns from Broadway for Seasons of Love III. (His New York shows include "Thoroughly Modern Millie," "La Cage Aux Folles," "Wicked," "Brooklyn" and many more hits.

Mike learned about the mission and programs of the organization and wanted to get involved. Chris Homes staff members said, "Do what you do best: Put on a show. Since then, it's got bigger every year," he said.

So this you gotta see. "Gadsden people come to Atlanta just to see this show," Mike says. "It's a great cause and a wonderful event."

Tickets are $35. The Woodruff Arts Center's 14th Street Playhouse is in Midtown Atlanta on the corner of 14th and Juniper streets. Call 404-733-4738.

This trio of comedies stars the great Dolores Hydock as three different women: In "A Lady of Letters," she plays a neighborhood busybody who finds fulfillment in an unexpected place; in "Soldiering On," she's a brave woman holding her world together with strong tea and a fearless spirit, and "In Bed Among the Lentils," Dolores is a vicar's wife coping with a nosy bishop, flower-arranging fanatics in the congregation, and her own firm belief in the existence of God.

Go on opening night and enjoy a free cast party after the show.

This week's performances will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Beginning Jan. 21, it runs at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday until Feb. 5. There will be one 2:30 matinee on Jan. 30.

Admission is $17 except on every Thursday night, when they offer a deal - pay what you can afford. TNT is at 2821 Second Ave. S., Birmingham, in the Dr Pepper complex. For reservations, phone 205-328-0868.

In last week's column item about the Gadsden Symphony's Valentine concert on Feb. 13, there was an error. The ticket price should have read, "admission is by season membership, or $20 at the door."

Deirdre Coakley is a correspondent for The Gadsden Times. Items for Arts & Entertainment Notebook may be mailed to her at The Gadsden Times, P.O. Box 188, Gadsden, AL 35902-0188, or faxed to 256-543-0024, or send e-mail to: dcoakley@internetpro.net

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